Injured Lee to to fly back home

The injury woes continue to torment Brett Lee, who would miss the rest of the tournament and would fly back home after breaking his thumb during Punjab's victory against the Mumbai Indians on April 9.

The Australian quickie is also likely to miss the T20 World Cup, set to begin at the Caribbean from the 30th of April.

"It is unfortunate that Brett Lee has to leave the tournament due to a fractured thumb," said Kumar Sangakkara.

The Kings XI skipper, who hoped that Brett Lee would not miss the T20 World Cup, said: "I hope not as we know he is a world-class performer and we would like him to be back fit soon."

Australian coach Tim Nielsen also hoped Brett Lee would be fit in time for the T20 event at the Caribbean.

Speaking to the Age, Nielsen said: "All we can do is wait and see how it reacts over the next four or five days before we have our camp and head off to the West Indies."

"Hopefully it will heal, and the scans and things he's having at the moment will show exactly the nature of the damage and what the likelihood of him playing is," Nielsen added.

However, Brett Lee's agent Neil Maxwell said the bowler should not rush back from his injury.

"While it would be wonderful for him to be able to play in it, I don't think the Twenty20 World Cup is the be-all and end-all," Maxwell told the Age.

"Brett has constantly rushed to get back into things because of timing, and whenever he has had a good break he's come back firing on eight cylinders. I'd rather him be at 100% when he plays for his country," he mentioned.